How to manage your advisor (and one day, how to manage your student.
Post on 18-Dec-2015
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“Mentors are advisers, people with career experience willing to share their knowledge; supporters, people who give emotional and moral encouragement; tutors, people who give specific feedback on one’s performance; masters, in the sense of employers to whom one is apprenticed; sponsors, sources of information about and aid in obtaining opportunities; models, of identity, of the kind of person one should be to be an academic.”
(Morris Zelditch)
Often one mentor is not enough, but make sure you have mentors that cover these areas
- Academic competence - Academic feedback - Emotional and moral encouragement - Financial support/guidance - Careers guidance - Role model
What can you expect?
• A professional relationship
• Regular meetings
• Be able to see your supervisor w/ a week’s notice
• Feedback on written work within a month
• A clear assessment of what you are doing correct/incorrectly
• Professional guidance
What can s/he expect?
• You need to do your work
• You need to be proactive about meeting
• You need to clearly let your supervisor know when you are stuck
• Be prepared with data and a plan when you meet with us
Over the next quarter the things that would most help me make good progress are (in order of importance, where 1 is most important): ___________ Regular face-to-face meetings ___________ Feedback on written work___________ Positive encouragement___________ Feedback on specifics___________ Career guidance___________ Clear goals/expectations___________ Other ________________________________________
My advisor doesn’t seem very happy with me(advisor->advisee conflict)
I’m not getting what I need from my advisor(advisee->advisor conflict)
The Graduate SchoolMichigan State University 2007
Implicit:• Not stated and rarely understood.“What didn’t you understand about what I didn’t tell you?”
Explicit:• Clearly Stated• Checked for understanding• Unilaterally or jointly set
Is your source of conflict implicit or explicit?
Is your source of conflict implicit or explicit?
Advisor->advisee
- My advisor tells me I need to be in lab more. But I have classes and I need to sleep occasionally!
- Whenever I give my supervisor data she seems unhappy, but I don’t get a sense of what I can do to improve …
Advisee->advisor
- I’ve given my proposal to my advisor and she’s been sitting on it for 4 months – I need to graduate!
- My supervisor is always first author on papers coming out of the lab – but know other labs don’t do that and I feel I should be first author
- My advisor never says thank you or ‘well done’
Is your source of conflict implicit or explicit?
Advisor->advisee
- My advisor tells me I need to be in lab more. But I have classes and I need to sleep occasionally!
- Whenever I give my supervisor data she seems unhappy, but I don’t get a sense of what I can do to improve …
Advisee->advisor
- I’ve given my proposal to my advisor and she’s been sitting on it for 4 months – I need to graduate!
- My supervisor is always first author on papers coming out of the lab – but I know other labs don’t do that and I feel I should be first author
- My advisor never says thank you or ‘well done’
Window of “Negotiable” ExpectationsExplicitJoint
Unil at er al
The Graduate SchoolMichigan State University 2007
OK
GOOD
OK BAD
Implicit
Strategies
• Positional Strategy
• Interest-based Strategy
The Graduate SchoolMichigan State University 2007
First Steps:
• Agreement about the context and previously set expectations.
• Identify the “issue” as a question that needs to be answer.
I know you feel I should be in the laboratory more and being more productive. But I feel I’m working very hard keeping up with classes and research and I’m not sure how I can improve the situation. Can I keep track of how I’m spending my time for a week and then maybe you could look at my schedule and tell me how I can better organize it so I have time to do my classes and get research done?
Perhaps this is a case of implicit expectations:
• Your supervisor may not be factoring in your course work
• You may be spending too much time on classes
• Your expectations about a reasonable workload may be different from your supervisor
Positional Approach
A position is a claim that one makes as the best (or only)answer to a pressing question (issue) .
A
A
What I WantG
What I Want
Position
The Positional Approach for Setting Expectations
ISSUE
Position
G Compromise
The Graduate SchoolMichigan State University 2007
80 hours/week40 hours/week
Interest-based ApproachInterests are needs that must be satisfied and values that must be preserved when searching for answers to a pressing question (issue).
- My supervisor is always first author on papers coming out of the lab – but I know other labs don’t do that and I feel I should be first author
I know your policy is that you are first author on papers coming out of your lab, but I’ve noticed that other laboratories do this differently. I guess I was wondering if you could explain the motivation behind the policy in your lab.
- Whenever I give my supervisor data she seems unhappy, but I don’t get a sense of what I can do to improve …
So you’ve given me very clear feedback here about what I need to do next and I’m going to get that to you by Thursday. But, since I’m new to this, I was wondering if you were satisfied with the work I gave you today or are you expecting something more or different from me? I want to be as productive as possible.
I guess I’m asking if you’re satisfied with my progress over the last year, and if not I was hoping for some concrete goals for improvement so I can be more productive?
Making the decision to leave your advisor
• You can’t meet with him/her even when you make a serious effort
• You can’t get feedback even when you request it
• You feel expectations are unreasonable and non-discussable
• You feel your advisor isn’t interested in your ideas/development
• You get a sense it’s not you – if so, do your homework.
You feel it isn’t working and have no idea how to fix it.
How to leave your advisor
• You don’t belong to your advisor S/he may feel that way but other members of faculty don’t. You were accepted into the program, not a particular lab.
• ~1-4 graduate students switch advisors in each cohort – without repercussions. Earlier is much better.
• Talk to your secondary supervisor, area head or Nancy on how to do it.
Advisor->advisee
- My advisor tells me I need to be in lab more. But I have classes and I need to sleep occasionally!
- Whenever I give my supervisor data she seems unhappy, but I don’t get a sense of what I can do to improve …
Advisee->advisor
- I’ve given my proposal to my advisor and she’s been sitting on it for 4 months – I need to graduate!
- My supervisor is always first author on papers coming out of the lab – but I know other labs don’t do that and I feel I should be first author
- My advisor never says thank you or ‘well done’
Role playing
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